I am often asked, “How long
does it take to be an ACE?” and I’m sorry but the answer has to be “It
depends”; it depends how far along the journey you are already are, and even
then it depends on how big an impact you make.
But this isn’t a race, it is
about being recognised for an on going community commitment. Even when you are
awarded an ACE title we are all self reviewed each year. You have to maintain the commitment to keep the title.
I also often say that one of
the roles of an ACE Director is to motivate and encourage the local community wherever
we have the privilege to present.
Anyway, I want to tell you
the story one such person on his own journey, and how that has been shaped by
the people he has met.
Alexis Lopez is an ACE Associate based in Colombia. His skill set
includes ADF & Java and he is an independent helping many partners and
organizations within Colombia.
My first visit to Colombia was 2011, and it was great to be back again this year.
I had the pleasure of meeting
Alexis on this years OTN Tour of North Latin America as he spoke in Panama,
Guatemala and of course Colombia. I envy the user groups in Latin America, they
have no problem attracting young professionals and I am always asking why they
got involved?
Alexis comes from the city of
Cali, and I knew that the Colombian User Group ASUOC is really active in Cali and my good friend Robin Castro Gil
who was
once the President came from there, so I asked Alexis if he knew him.
Alexis laughed and told me
that Robin was one of his lecturers when he was at university. Robin taught
Project Management which was a module on Alexis’ computer degree at ICESI in 2005. Robin is now a professor at ICESI and
currently completing his PhD in Montreal.
 |
| Robin (on right) at ASUOC 2011 |
When Alexis realised that
Robin actually ran the user group he started to attend virtually from 2006 when
he finished university and started working. The user group provided information
on the many diverse technologies available within Oracle but what really hooked
Alexis was the community interaction. He started to specialise in Oracle and
went to work for an Oratech, an Oracle Partner as a developer.
Around 2010 Alexis met
Mauricio Naranjo who at the time was the only local ACE Director and also specialized in SOA & Middleware. Mauricio blogged, spoke, was an author of a book
and if you know Mauricio he is so passionate about what he does and this rubbed
off on Alexis. Mauricio took Alexis under his wing and encouraged him to get involved
more, to share his knowledge.
 |
| Mauricio & Alexis |
This mentoring worked and
Alexis started his own journey, after
attending JavaOne LAD in December 2012 and watching the interaction and
solidarity of the Brazilian community, he decided to create CLOJUG a
Java User Group in Cali.
2016 has been an amazing
year for Alexis, it has seen him gain ACE Associate, the first step on the ACE
journey. He was also presented at Open World Latin America in Brazil earlier
this year with a Duke Choice Award for Open Source Collaboration for this region. This was a
joint award to Alexis and Cesar Hernandez another upcoming star and Java Champion
from Guatemala. There is even a picture of this being awarded in the
current OTN Latin America presentation video that Pablo Ciccarello, the community shares at each conference.
Alexis is a star of his
community on the rise and will be encouraging others to join him at Java One
this year with his presentation: Worldwide JUG Collaboration: Think Global, Act Local [UGF7868].
There is nothing better for a teacher, than the
success of former students, I know both Robin and Mauricio are proud of Alexis
and all he has achieved at what is still the start of his community journey.
Alexis also got me to ride a horse, but that is another story
So even if you have yet to start your journey,
or want a little direction, reach out to your local ACE members and we will
take the time to encourage you.
And keep an eye out for
Alexis; he is going places!
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